Fluidic pressure regulator

ABSTRACT

A fluidic pressure regulator comprising a hollow housing having a diaphragm therein which forms a chamber through which fluid is passed. Means are provided for applying a load to the diaphragm in an opposite direction to the force exerted by the pressurized fluid on the diaphragm, which load varies in response to changes in the pressure of the fluid passing into the chamber.

United States Patent Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee FLUIDICPRESSURE REGULATOR Primary Examiner-Harold W. Weakley Attorneys-S. A.Giarratana, G. B. Oujevolk and S. M. Bender 2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl l37/505.42, 137/530 Int. Cl Fl6k 31/38 ABSTRACT: A fluidicpressure regulator comprising a hollow Field ofSearch ..137/505.42,housing having a diaphragm therein which forms a chamber 505- 1, 104through which fluid is passed. Means are provided for applying a load tothe diaphragm in an opposite direction to the References C'ted forceexerted by the pressurized fluid on the diaphragm, which UNITED STATESPAT T load varies in response to changes in the pressure of the fluid2,672,891 7 3/1954 Fausek 92/102 passing into the chamber.

24 g) 3 2 30 I8 4 4 26 i "1' f R 2 38 I4 2 42 36 46 PATENTEDJANSISYI3552.431

INVENTOR ALBERTUS E. SCHMIDLIN ATTORNEY rLulnlc PRESSURE REGULATOR f-BACKGROUND or YT'HE'INVENTIQN This invention relates to adevice forregulating the pressure of a flowingfluid, and more particularly, to adevice for, .receiving a flowing fluid which; may beat varying.pressures and effectinga constant pressure discharge of the fluid.

In the field of navigation guidance and control, it is :t'requentlynecessary to provide a device, such as a sensor or ,amplifier, with acontrolled constant supply pressure, since these devices are sensitiveto any changesin the latter.

' Various types of ,regulators have been proposed, which generallyinclude a valve member which-is acted on by the load .pressure;of thefluid and which has a spring, or the like, exerting a forceon thevalvemernber ina direction opposite to that of the load pressure.I-loweye'r, in operation, these spring forces are normallysubstantiallyconstant and are therefore insensitive to'pressure changesin the supply-fluid.

As a result, the output: pressure of the fluid will vary in response tochangesin the supply pressure. 7

Also, these and other similar regulators contain several I moving partswhich, of course, make them sensitive to a very high accelerations such{as in the order. of 1 sr l000 times gravity. H 1 "BRIEF SUMMARYonrnr'iNvsunom It is, therefore,-an objgCt 0f the present inventiontoprovide a fiuidic. pressure regulator which overcomes the abovedisadvantages. by providing a relative low mass're'gulato'r with aminimum of-movin'g' parts .which effects an output flow of fluid ataconstant regulated-pressure in responseto an input flow of fluid at avarying. pressure, andfwhich is not sensitive to high accelerations, orthe like.

Briefly summarized, the present invention consistsfof a housing forminga chamberhavinga fluid inlet and outlet,

with a diaphragm'having a predetermined flexural strengthforming-one'surfaceof the chamber. A ball valve is associated withtheinlet to the chamber and is operatively connected to the diaphragmthe'latter being designed so that, as it moves to and from its'loadedposition', its flexure stresses and resulting forces-varypr'oportionally to compensate for the changes in the pressure ofthe-fluid'flow through the inlet, which results in an outputflow ataconstant pressure. I i

snier-nsscnii rion or-Tiu; DRAWINGS I Reference isnow madetotheaccompanying'drawings for a t e s' nsn of he n t r an je f th fl ii pressure regulator of the present invention, whichdrawings il-.lustrate the best mode'presently contemplated for carrying out theobjects of the invention and itsprinciples, andare not to be construedasrestrictions or limitations on its scope. In the drawings: I

- FIG. I is atop plan-view showing the pressure regulator of the presentinvention; and

nsscnirrion'or Tris PREFERRED-EMBODIMENTS f FIG. 2 is a crossssectiunalview takenalongline of FIG. I

wardly as'shown by the solid lines in FIG. 2 so um it is preloaded in adownward direction. The magnitude of this latter load may be adjusted bysimply rotating the upper and lower housing members 12 and 14 relativeto each other to adjust their relative position in an axial direction.An O-ring seal 28 is provided between the upper and lower housingmembers 12 and 14 in the immediate vicinity of the clamped portion ofthe diaphragm 18, as shown.

. The diaphragm l8 dividesthe space defined by the housing members intoa pair of chambers 20-,and 22, and a plate member 30 is fixed to theundersurface of diaphragm 18 in the central portion thereof, and carriesa post 32 which extends downwardly into the chamber 22.

An inlet 34 is provided through the lower housing member 14, the centralbore of the inlet being enlarged as shown at 36 to receive a ball valve38 which is urged towards a tapered valve seat 40 by means of a spring42. The 'post 32 engages the upper'surface of the ball valve 38 tooperatively connect the diaphragm and the ball valve. An outlet 44 isprovided in the lower. housing member 14 which has a. passage 46 formedtherein in communication with the chamber 22. An inlet 48 may also beprovided in the upper housing member 12 for reasons that will bedescribed in detail later.

In operation, the device is connected to a source of fluid at a pressureP., which pressure urges the ball valve upwardly in cavity 36% the fluidflows through the inlet 34 until equilibri- I um is established betweenthe force of this pressure plus the force of the pressure of the fluidin the chamber 22, and the force exertedbythe diaphragm in response toits preloading. ln other words, and with reference to FIG. 2, theconditions are such that the force exerted downwardly by the flexeddiaphragm 18 is equal to the sum of the forces exerted upwardly by thesupply pressure, P,, and the pressure I in the chamber 22, these;equilibrium conditions being shown by the solid lines in FIG. 2. Itisunderstood'that the calibration of the downward force exertedby thediaphragm'is made taking into consideration the upward force exerted bythe spring 42, and in the interests of brevity, the latter force will bedisregarded.

' Upon a change in the pressure P, of the fluid flowing through theinlet 34, such as a reduction, for example, the ball valve will'move tothe position shown by the. dotted lines in FIG. 2 due to the downwardforce exerted by the loaded diaphragm 18 and its connection with theball valve via the post 32. This downward movement of the diaphragmreduces the flexure thereon and causes it to automatically develop aweaker flexural force. I

Referring specifically to FIGS. 1 arid-2 of the drawings, the

reference-numeral 10frefers t'o-the pressure regulator of the presentinvention which consists of an upper housing member I2 and 'a lowerhousing member 14, each having flanged portions extending from theiredges. The outer surface-"of the flanged portion of the housing member-12 threadedly engages the inner'surface-of the flanged portion of thehousing member-l4,asshownat 16.-

A diaphragm 18, having a predeterminedflexural strength,- has its outer'rim portion clarnpedbetweenan inclined shoulder 24 formed on theflanged portion of the upper housing member l2 and a correspondinginclined shoulder 26' formed on the lowerhousing member-l4, the designbeing such that in its normal position, the'diaphra'gm is bowed up Byoptimumdesign of the configuration of the diaphragm (such as itsthickness and diameter with respect to the size of the ball valve,etc.), this decrease in the pressure P, of the supply fluid can beoffset by the decrease in the preloading, or the flexural force, of thediaphragm so that the pressure in the chamber P,- will remain constantat equilibrium. Hence, the

fluid will exit from the chamber 22 through passage 46 at substantiallyconstant pressure.

In most applications, the body forces acting upon the reguf lator of thepresent invention as a result of acceleration will not be large enoughto disturb its operation, mainly due to the low mass of the moving partinvolved. However, when the launch acceleration is very high, theregulator axis may be oriented orthogonally with respect to the launchdirection to minimize effects of these large acceleration forces. Incases where the latterremedy is not sufficient toovercome these forces,abias pressure can be emitted to the regulator at the inlet 48 which inturn may be controlled by any known means, such as a duplicate regulatorwhose axis is parallel but Of course, variations of the specificconstruction and arfrom said chamber;

a disc plate disposed in said chamber; clamping means for loading saiddisc plate; said inlet passage having a ball valve disposed therein;

rangement of the fluidic pressure regulator disclosed above can be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

lclaim:

l. A pressure regulator comprising:

a first hollow housing member having a first threaded portion;

a second hollow housing member having a second threaded connecting meansconnecting said ball valve to said disc plate',and 1".

said clamping means being arranged to apply an edge mp ment to said discplate for preloadingsaid disc plate so that said disc plate isresponsive to the-pressureig said chamber and is operative to move saidball valve in response to the pressure in said; chamber,

2 A pressure regulator as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second hollowhousing member has another means to introduce pressurized gas to providean added biasing means on said regulator.

1. A pressure regulator comprising: a first hollow housing member havinga first threaded portion; a second hollow housing member having a secondthreaded portion; said first threaded portion being connected to saidsecond threaded portion; a chamber formed by said housing members; saidfirst hollow housing member having an inlet passage to said chamber; avalve seat disposed in said inlet passage; said first hollow housingmember having an outlet passage from said chamber; a disc plate disposedin said chamber; clamping means for loading said disc plate; said inletpassage having a ball valve disposed therein; connecting meansconnecting said ball valve to said disc plate; and said clamping meansbeing arranged to apply an edge moment to said disc plate for preloadingsaid disc plate so that said disc plate is responsive to the pressure insaid chamber and is operative to move said ball valve in response to thepressure in said chamber.
 2. A pressure regulator as claimed in claim 1wherein said second hollow housing member has another means to introducepressurized gas to provide an added biasing means on said regulator.